Mercia Technologies PLC, a Midlands-based leader in the funding and commercialisation of technology businesses in the UK, has made its first investment of £750,000 into Edge Case Games, the developer and self-publisher of the tactical space combat game, Fractured Space.
Having achieved critical and commercial success from their initial launch of the game on Steam’s “Early Access” platform in November 2014, Edge Case Games is now planning to launch a full, free-to-play version of Fractured Space late 2015. It will also begin early prototyping of the game for the Asian market, which is one of the fastest growing gaming markets in the world.
The Early Access launch of Fractured Space generated 400,000 users in its first five months, with one reviewer from online news site PC Games commenting that “the final product may well be one of the best space combat games ever made.”
Edge Case Games is one of the latest ’emerging stars’ from Mercia’s wholly-owned subsidiary of third party funds, Mercia Fund Management. The Edge Case studio was formed by industry veterans James Brooksby and Chris Mehers. The pair’s previous title, the action space game Strike Suit Zero, launched in January 2013, to attract an audience of over 1.4 million players on PC and console.
Commenting on the investment, Mercia’s Head of Digital Mike Hayes said:
“We are delighted to provide continued support for Edge Case Games. I have known this impressive team for some time now and they are growing the business towards becoming a leading player in the online PC gaming industry. Edge Case is an exciting young company that has the opportunity to create a large and successful brand not only in Europe and America, but also in the Chinese market.”
James Brooksby, CEO and Co-Founder of Edge Case Games said:
“We are very grateful to have an investor like Mercia that shares our belief and vision, and this new investment will allow us to work towards a full launch of Fractured Space later this year.
“We are especially pleased to continue our work with Mike Hayes, whose experience as the former CEO of SEGA has made him a highly valuable asset to the team.”
Watch a video on the amazing evolution of the game here:
You can watch a trailer for Fractured Space here: